Moon, Trump to hold talks Monday on peace process in New York

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap)-- South Korean President Moon Jae-in hopes to focus on how to move forward the Korea peace process when he holds summit talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York next week, as Pyongyang-Washington negotiations are expected to resume soon, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.

Their ninth bilateral summit will be held Monday on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly session, according to Choi Jong-kun, presidential secretary for peace planning. The exact time and venue will be announced later via a coordination with the White House, he added.

In the meeting, Moon will "discuss ways for cooperation for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishment of permanence peace," Choi said at a press briefing.

Other agenda items include "various methods" to further strengthen the Seoul-Washington alliance and pending regional issues, he said.

It would be their first face-to-face talks since Japan introduced stricter export restrictions against South Korea in apparent retaliation over a historical issue. In response to Tokyo's removal of Seoul from its so-called trade whitelist, the Moon administration decided to terminate a bilateral accord on exchanging military information. The U.S. has expressed concern about the potential negative impact on trilateral security cooperation in Northeast Asia.

Washington is also pressing Seoul to pay more for the U.S. Forces Korea and contribute to security-related operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to reporters later, a Cheong Wa Dae official did not rule out the possibility that such issues will be raised in the upcoming Moon-Trump talks.

However, South Korea would like to concentrate on the North Korea issue as the summit comes as Pyongyang and Washington will soon restart working-level nuclear talks, the official said.

Moon is scheduled to arrive in New York on Sunday. The following day, he will meet separately with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and attend the U.N. Climate Action Summit and an event to prepare for a P4G summit. P4G stands for Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030, a new climate alliance aiming to become a new engine to drive eco-friendly growth.

On Tuesday, Moon will deliver a keynote speech at the U.N. session on Seoul's efforts for peace on the peninsula and its pursuit of continued international support.

He plans to meet International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach as well, with South Korea bidding to host the 2032 Summer Olympics together with North Korea.

He is also scheduled to hold a series of bilateral summits with his counterparts from Poland, Denmark and Australia, as well as taking part in a ceremony to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the request of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.